$40. That was the cost of a Monoprice mechanical keyboard in ~2017 with Outemu Red switches and all red backlighting on cheap ABS keycaps. I remember that because it was one of the keyboards I would recommend to someone wanting to replace their OEM membrane keyboard with a better experience. Then came keyboards from China which gave you RGB lighting and different form factors for $50-80 and it seems that never stopped. As such, seeing a mechanical keyboard in this 65% form factor and offering per-key RGB lighting is, by itself, not a surprise. After all, the G.Skill KM250 RGB launched at an MSRP of $55 earlier this year. It still sells for about the same in other countries, although I am not sure it makes much sense to market a US ANSI keyboard in Europe and asking for more than what local brands offer.

Back in the US though, things are different. The G.Skill KM250 RGB now sells for $40 and that does help sweeten the deal significantly even if the keyboard had some jarring issues. The good news is this is a well featured keyboard which should work well enough to be a one-and-done typing solution for many people. Sure, the 65% form factor isn't for everyone. The lack of first-party key mapping doesn't help either but there are multiple third-party solutions if you wish to go for a different combination of keys on the right-most column, for example. G.Skill does a decent job by offering an Fn layer with the missing functions and even has them printed on the respective keycaps, although they are laser-etched so may show signs of wear sooner than later. The keycaps overall are quite good, not only using thick PBT plastic with doubleshot injected primary and secondary legends but also going for the pudding style to make for a brighter light show courtesy all the LEDs on board. There are plenty of lighting effects to choose from and customize too. There may only be a single switch on offer but it's a good default switch and we even get hot-swappable switch sockets should you wish to try something else. Add to this a dedicated volume wheel and this really is looking like a keyboard which would cost much more from a few larger brands. The G.Skill KM250 RGB gets an easy budget award from us.